The PK Perspective

Campsie Linn:  Thurs 12th August 2100 ish

I was minding my own business and having a good dance along to my wii game when Ian texted, suggesting we do a twilight shoot, like right then. So it was off with old combats and on with some warmer clothes and out the door to a proper photo trip. Yieahy! The sun was just starting to set so we headed west along the river in the hope of catching it set over the water. After a small trip down a odd back road we ended up at Campsie Linn. This is usually a quiet area as is not the easiest place to get to and many don’t know of it, but this night the small car park was full and the road packed with parked cars. Very Odd. We decided not to investigate and headed down the other road to the fishing area close by. A short walk brought us out at the river side and we set up to capture what light there was.

I had remembered my tripod for a change which is a good thing as slow shutter speeds were needed to capture the light and movement in the water and clouds. So with low ISO and high aperture the shutter was about 15-20 secs. My wide-angled lens is too big for my filters so I was unable to block out more light for lower speeds. I did however get some fabulous shots with it due the nature of the all encompassing lens. As the light started to fade we could see flaming lanterns exist the trees at the Linn itself and rising on thermals to grant their wishes, which was maybe a little odd for a summers evening in Scotland. Unfortunately with the wide lens they were just blips on the horizon. As the light got more and more dim the shutter speeds got lower and with a bit of experiment we found that with my camera on “bulb” mode I could use the remote shutter release to get longer exposures by pressing the button once to open the shutter and then pressing it again to shut it. This meant very long shutter speeds with no holding down shutter buttons or cables, very handy. However there is nothing like long shutter speeds to let you see how dirty your lens actually is.

Just after darkness really stared to settle in, the bats came down and the Linn camp had ended their night in a fiery water display, no idea what they were up to. Our shutter speeds were down to 10 mins and the batteries were starting to complain, but i did get a lovely shot before my battery gave up entirely. However the lens and sensor weren’t very happy with such long shutters and it took a lot of photoshop work to pull out the impurities. After the battery went we decided to call it a night as we could hardly see our way back, so we packed up our stuff and hiked carefully back down the river to the car. The low shutter speeds meant that we didn’t get as many shots as usual as each shot took longer and there was no postponing the sunset, but I am happy with the shots I did get and it was excellent to be out on a proper photo trip again.

10min Exposure, Lovely but left impurities.

Location: Loch Turret    Sun 4th July 1400 ish

As my photo bud is working lots and looking after 2 kids when he’s not working I dragged my mother out for photo trip instead. The advantage of going out with mother is that she supplies lunch too, we originally said we would have a picnic but when Sunday morning came it was dull and wet and windy so we agreed to to Gloagburn farm instead, YUM! Gloagburn is between Perth and Crieff at Timbermore and does wonderful home cooking using organic ingredients off of their farm. As we munched on our lovely food and discussed the weeks ongoings the heavens opened and to say it poured down is an understatement. It was rain of a more biblical nature and just as we considered making us an arc it calmed down and left behind it a lovely sunny and warm day. So after lunch we decided to venture out into the world and headed away from the dark bruised clouds that were fleeing to Perth. The sun was shining over Crieff so we went that way instead and on the spur of a moment went to Loch Turret just beyond. I have been there I few times but always in the autumn and winter and have been met with snow, mist and a very full loch. But this time, in summer, it was very different. The glen was lush with greenery and the loch itself was somewhat shrunken revealing little stony beaches underneath its edges. It was beautiful with the sun shining over the hills and sparkling blue water.

Legoesk hydro building

The whole place was maybe a bit too perfect and had an unreal feel about it like someone had painted it on . The colours were bright and harsh in the Scottish light, but the most unreal thing is the Hydro building. The loch is a dammed river and is looked after by Scottish water. At the base of the Dam which looks like a steep green hill is a building which home the pumps and on this day had an alarm going off. It is a stone building of grey and red and with the steep hill behind it and the blue sky above it looks like it is made of lego or some child had painted it on. Very odd! After deciding that the alarm was not a signal that the dam was going to burst open we headed up to the loch and a view point which was sign posted but we never actually found.

The loch looking lovely before the storm

As the day was now so wonderful, though still a bit breezy we walked along the path at the side of the loch, a path which turned in to a small river at times due to the mornings rain. We got about a mile down it when it gave up being a path and turned into a grassy track and eventually into nothing but heather on a hillside. We did find a stream tumbling down to the loch and a little waterfall which I at a couple of shots of with a low ISO and  Shutter speed  although they were a bit blurry as in order to get them with the wide angle (I didn’t have another lens with me) I had to lean over a very slippy stone which was too slippy to stand on and balance the camera on the edge of it at arms length, surprising I managed to get any good ones really! After this stream we thought we should head back as the path was no longer obvious and the sky was darkening. Back up through the heather we went to the path/ river which we had followed up and after passing a few tourists in t shirts and no jackets (fools they are, do they not know about Scottish weather) the sky turned a deep dark navy and the sun disappeared behind some very heavy clouds which closed in around the hills and cried their woes to us. Like someone had ripped them open the clouds threw their contents at us and I was very glad I had brought my waterproof jacket which is big enough to zip up over me and my camera. It seems we did not beat the storm after all.

With thunder rumbling in the distance we speed back around the loch and over the dam to the car and reached it well and truly drenched. And although the scene was pretty spectacular with a moody sky over loch and glen I was not getting my camera out of my jacket and subjecting it to the buckets of water that were being hurled at us. The drive back down the one track road was interesting with the rain bouncing off of its uneven surface and obscuring our view. At the bottom of the glen is the glen Turret distillery and we sought sanctuary there with it’s giant Grouse until the rain eased and revealed yet again a beautiful sunny day with a blue sky and cheerful white, fluffy clouds. If it wasn’t for the soaked ground and drenched people you would think it had always been a lovely day. Good old Scottish weather, just like its people and a bit on the unpredictable side and often full of surprises!

Perthshire – Campsie Linn and Dunning:   Sun 20th June 2010

Our poor Groucho

Although last Sunday was fathers day I actually spent the day with mother. Firstly because Father was not actually available and secondly as mother had had a really bad week that ended in her cat Groucho (named after Groucho Marx as both had a little black tash) having to be put down due to kidney failure. Poor Grouch! She was getting on a bit, that’s the cat and not mum, but none of us expected her to go so early as our previous cats have lived to around 20 and Groucho was only about 11. She was a very noisy cat possibly due to my sister talking and singing to her when she was a kitten (though my sister had no excuse as she was in her 20s!) and she was a little feisty to put it politely, but all in all she was a good cat and loyal when it suited her.  May she rest in peace in little cat heaven where she can eat Paris buns to her hearts content and sit on Indie (our old cat) whenever she wants.

Anyway to order to cheer up mother we went for a picnic at Campsie Linn which is the other side of the river Tay than Stanley Linn. As the Tay was so low we walked easily over to the island which was littered with smashed sandstone on the grey and white riverbed, like a big rock monster had come along and pooed across it! I assume in actuality the force of the river in full flow had dragged the sandstone down and into the harder pebbles. The day was hot but not bright and I only got a few shots but we had a nice lunch which included fresh raspberries from the Strawberry Shop just outside Old Scone. Yum Yum! After a wee explore of the island we headed across country to Dunning.

Ancient Pictish Cross with amazing carvings

In the middle of Dunning and at the heart of its random road system stands St Serfs church which dates back to the 13th Century, though most the building you can see now is somewhat newer than that. This beautiful church with some of the most amazing stained glass windows I’ve seen (especially as the church is so small) also houses the Dupplin Cross which is a very impressive Pictish carved cross which dates from 800AD. It was originally sited a few miles along the road at Forteviot but the local land owner there got fed up of people walking on his land to see it and got it removed, lovely man!!!! The cross is dedicated in latin to the local Pictish King Caustantin, and is one of the best examples of Pictish engraving there is. It’s panels are engraved with legends, biblical stories and signs of unity and considering it is made of sandstone and has spent 1200 years  standing on a Scottish hillside has aged very well indeed, with most of the panel designs being easily seen and identified. It symbolises a great king who united the Picts and the Scots and overcame the Nordic Vikings and ruled justly over the land. It also has various Christian beliefs on it including the celtic triangle of the holy trinity and references to King David. Thankfully Historic Scotland, who’s care  the cross is in, do not mind photographs being taken of the cross or the church. So camera out for me then. The cross is lit by dim lights but I found the flash took out a lot of detail and made it look very flat so I turned the camera to Raw and manual and took the shots with a shutter of about 60th as I had no tripod for lower and an ISO 1600 with a low aperture. This gave me a few good moody shots. I also got some shots of the stained glass windows using a lower ISO as by now the sun was streaming in. And although Jesus had odd feet on one pane (all a bit De Vinci  code with hidden meanings) I got some  lovely shots of the patterns on the glass and the light they shed on the old walls.

Both Church and cross are incredibly interesting places and quite photogenic and the Historic Scotland man very helpful and informative and I would highly recommend a visit. But if that is not your cup of tea then the town of Dunning is quite lovely too and although most of it was burnt down in raids a few 100 years ago along with the church there is one other older building, a cottage. It is said that when the raiders came and set fire to the village the woman who lived in this cottage set a torch burning at the window and the raiders thought they had already torched the house so left it alone, clever girl!!! Also there is the monument to Maggie Wall who is believed to be the last woman to be burnt at the stake for being a witch. There is no record of this but I’m lead to believe that her skull was excavated and the story holds. The painted inscription on this monument which is interestingly topped with a cross  tells us she was burnt in 1657. Mother and I visited this little witch sanctuary before we headed back to Perth and after talking to a very chatty sheep we added our coin of respect and a daisy to the various other items left in memory of a woman unjustly treated in a turbulent time. Poor girl was probably just a normal clever woman and hence must have been a witch in the eyes of a male dominated society.

Once we got back in to Perth it was unfortunately time for me to go to work so I had to leave mum to her own means, but I had managed to cheer her up a bit and distract her from memories of poor Groucho.

Location:- Buchanty Spout falls Time:-  1300-1430

Wee falls at Buchanty

I had the day off and the weather was mostly nice, though a bit changeable in true Scottish style. The wee one was in Nursery so we decided to try and get some good shots somewhere close to home. Ian suggested Buchanty spout which are lovely waterfalls in the Small Glen. We had been there a couple of winters ago when it was snowing so being there in spring sounded like a great idea. Once there the sun decided to come out the place looked beautiful and as not snowing or frosty I did slip around all over the place this time. I left Ian to do the main falls while I clambered down to the lower falls. Apparently Salmon leap up these falls to reach their spawning grounds , which is pretty impressive as they are pretty steep and very fast flowing. I’m sure anglers just pick them out as they go which make it even harder for them! As the slope down to the wee falls was pretty steep and slippy I left my bag at the top not really many dry places to put it at the bottom, however it did mean I had to clamber back up every time I wanted to change lenses. I again used RAW format as the light was a bit unpredictable and as usual I had forgot my tripod, really need to put it somewhere obvious in the future. So it was back to balancing the camera and me on rocks and trying to stay still to use the low shutter speeds that give the moving water that lovely smokey effect. It was great to back to the hanging off of rocks photograph, just me kinda thing.

After 15 mins or so I headed back up to the main falls to see if Ian was still alive and not in the river, though I would of seen him float passed if he wasn’t. I found him in conversation with a local artist that had turned up to paint the falls. Ian also knew the painter and as the painter didn’t even manage to acknowledge me, how rude, I went on with some photo fun, climbing and lying over the rocks to capture the rapids. Do love what I do! After Ian disengaged himself from rude painter he took our new banner shot, which was one of my safer positions. We then decided to try and access the other side of the bridge and river and after a little bit of exploring and a trip through a very spooky tunnel with an iron gate like something out of a horror movie, we found a way down to the river on the other side. Now it wasn’t exactly a path we followed down to the actual riverside but it was close enough for us. Am a little surprised we got down unharmed, but it was worth it. The water was just a fantastic colour and the lower falls were very photogenic and the big rocks totally accessible to stand on, well ok maybe not totally but good enough with a bit of courage. But time got away from us and we had to head back to pick up the wee one, so it was a scramble back up the hill, which was not easy and there was a moment when we weren’t sure if we could get back up. We made it though and after a little rally drive back and a quick cycle we got to the nursery just after the doors opened.

Old mill ruins at the back of Blairgowrie

After this little adventure, my father came to meet me and we headed up to Blairgowrie where the rain that had been threatening all day and had been rushing over in showers had decided to show us its fury. Wow we got wet. Strangely as we headed out to the local Lochs, which until recently we didn’t know existed, the rain eased up a bit just as we passed Blairgowrie town limits. We walked through the Ardblair woods and down to the Bluebell woods, which are aptly named and are ancient oak woods according to the sign. We talked philosophy and religion and put humanity to rights as well as agreeing on what a farce the recent election had been. As usual we got a little lost and went the long way around. I got a little worried when we came across of little clearing with loads of small boxes sitting together with stones on top of them. As in each box had one large stone on top of it. We considered investigating but decided that maybe we didn’t want to know what was in them, it was Blairgowrie after all! We walked a bit faster though out of the damp deserted woodland. After walking through a very rural looking farm we found deserted building, unfortunately the light was pretty miserable so I couldn’t get a good shot. There was however an old mill with its lade system  and the water was rushing over the missing wheel and I managed to get a shot of this by lying on the ground and balancing the camera on the edge of the bridge over the lade. We also found 2 anglers Lochs where you are not allowed to feed the ducks off of the pier, though it didn’t state you couldn’t feed them from anywhere else. We decided that it was time to head back and as we walked back into rainy Blair we agreed that it would be a good place to return to when the weather was a bit more on our side. By the time I got home I was shattered as I had climbed, cycled and walked most of the day away but must admit it was well worth it.

Another sunny day in Luncarty! Sarah brought the tank (volvo) and picked me up to go somewhere nearby for a photoshoot and I remembered about a wee place called Buchanty Spout. We have shot their before but the weather was a bit on the terrible side so I was hoping for better results this time.

Square rock with the water tumbling over it

After setting up the tripod and assembling my various filters into the Cokin holder, the sun finally made an appearance from behind the various shades of grey clouds. It had been snowing near Edinburgh in the morning (had been to South Queensferry to pick up a new skid lid from Forth Gear).

I got quickly down to business as the good weather doesn’t seem to last very long here anymore. Aperture priority mode at f22 was giving me shutter speeds of between two and five seconds – exactly what I was looking at to blur the water! This was only achievable by using both my polarising filter and my 8x ND filter to block out as much light as possible. The side effect of all those filters is the amount of lens flare from the sun reflecting between the filter gaps, but a well placed hand/towel/whatever will soon prevent that issue.

Location:- Birnam Hill by Dunkeld  Time:- 10/4/10 1200-1530

The sun was finally shining and spring had at last sprung. I had the day off work and as it was Saturday I took father out for a wonder up a hill to get a few countryside photos and hopefully some of an ancient bridge. It’s been a while since I’d been on a proper trip out and about so was ready with wide angled and zoom lenses to take on a Perthshire hillside.

We chose to do the simple path up Birnam Hill just outside Dunkeld. So after having a light brunch in Perth we headed out. We started at Birnam railway station which is just off the A9 and looks like it is by itself as Birnam and Dunkeld are hidden on the other side of the A9 behind the trees. The blurb I had read the night before on the net had told me the full walk would take about 2 hours and had a pretty detour of an ancient bridge (Stair Bridge). All started well and the path which spiraled up through lovely wee cottages and large mansions was easy to follow and ran parallel to the railway. It wound through woodland  and meandered up and down the hill side until we came to the Quarry carpark. Now I knew that from the Quarry the bridge was only a little distance away and 200m up. We started up a main Path and brought Errol the diabetic monster out of hibernation, but father being father decided to go back a bit and take a less traveled route. This was our 1st mistake.

Slate quarry which was supposed to be close to the bridge

We found our way up to the Quarry and by this time it had got really quite hot and I had to take a few layers off. I also developed a real thirst and found I had not brought a bottle of water. We walked through the Quarry and found a little magical looking grove set in the back. Although probably just a part of the slate Quarry it looked like something out of a Harry Potter movie, with large rocks guarding a passage through to a little ivy and moss strewn alcove. It was lovely and I got the camera out to take a few shots, however the sun was dodging around it as the hill kept it in shadow. Got a couple of shots though before we moved on up and out of the Quarry and over slate littered paths to the top of the Quarry and a lot of marshland.

After a good look around and some muddy moments we found nothing of a bridge nor anything for it to cross. We did however find an old sheep pen built of slate. As we headed out of the woodland onto the hillside proper father went on a scouting mission to a small peak to see if he could see the phantom bridge. When he phoned back to say he could see no bridge I decided to use my brains instead of my brawn and I called my sister and got her to go online to find out where this bridge was. Unfortunately all she found out was that it was just off the quarry and 200m up. Which I already knew. Father decided to to climb up to the summit, but by this time I was gasping for water, feeling weak and too hot so opted to head back into the shade of the trees so we split up with the understanding that whoever found out where the bridge was would phone the other and direct them to it.  This was our 2nd mistake.

As I wound back down through woodland father continued up. After 10 mins or so he called as I hung over the edge of a precipice holding on to a tree for dear life (and still couldn’t see the stupid bridge) he could not see the bridge but had met a couple of people who told him the bridge was 20 mins down the main path. Fine for him who had a path, I on the other hand was in the middle of nowhere and well and truly lost.  He gave me directions to follow which directed me back through the quarry, down the path and back to the path we came to. So off I set back down the hill, passed the sheep pen, through the mud and quagmire, over the fallen trees, through the quarry, down the slate path, down the road to the other path. Father phoned again at this point and told me that I should take the path on my left, so stupidly I did. So this was mistake 3.

I hiked along the path which dragged me up and down the hillside where the trees were thinner and the wind was softer and the temperature was higher and my thirst was getting worse and worse until all I could think about was having a lovely cool big bottle of water. Just as the path started to seem horribly familiar father called again to see where I was. On finding out I was far down the hill and actually on the path we started on he told me I should be a mile or so in the other direction and up the hill about 200m. After being very tempted to go back and get the car and drive back to the other car park closer to the supposed bridge sight I turned back and hiked back to where we went off of the main path all those hours ago. I pulled myself up the steep rocky path and was sorely tempted to drink for the the little burn which ran alongside and over the path. With parched throat and weakening legs I got the point where father was and we climbed up path towards the bridge. On route we met, oddly enough, my old politics lecturer form college who remembered me after 10 years and told us the bridge was only 10 mins up. Phew.

A very impressive bridge from underneath and all for a wee burn!

Finally we found the allusive bridge and though at 1st quite disappointing on the approach as you only saw the crumbling top, on exploration it was a very impressive construction spanning a large ravine and a small burn and completely out of place. It must of taken a lot of time and money to build in order to span this lonely part of the countryside and there was no evidence that it had ever been a main thoroughfare or even went anywhere. Although I was shattered and thirsty I clambered down the burn and under the bridge. Using a low ISO speed and high Aperture I got some lovely low shutter speeds and although I had no tripod with me I got some lovely slow water shots.I also whacked the camera into raw format instead of jpeg this allows the camera to save exactly what it sees in a full mega pixel format, which leaves you with a very large file but the ability to play around a lot more in photoshop including changing the exposure. I climbed around the edge of the burn which dropped into oblivion just passed the bridge and balanced myself and the camera on various rocks to capture the best perspectives of the small falls, trying my best to stay still so not to blur the shot. Father tried to cross the burn under the bridge and slipped and almost disappeared over the steep drop so we decided that it would be a better idea to stay where we were. Happy to have finally found the ancient bridge I had been promised and even thirstier after seeing and hearing all that water we decided to head back to the car.

Once back at the car we drove into Dunkeld and got some juice. My 1st bottle lasted about 20 seconds and the 2nd about a min or 2 but wow they tasted good. Apart form the absolute dehydration and the lost in the sunshine, it was quite a successful day and I got some lovely smokey water shots. But next time I’m taking a map and not following dads directions!

After helping Sarah (Ian did all the work) take an old TV to the skip, our two entrepid photographer set about the shores of Loch Leven to see what they could see, see, see. And all that they could see, see ,see… was some crap cloud cover and no light to speak of!

The shores of Loch Leven

Sarah had stated her availability for Monday and Tuesday this week and after checking the weather forecast, we decided that the “sunny” Tuesday was the way to go. Met Office – you suck! Massive cloud coverage was stopping any decent light from getting through!

We arrived at Loch Leven after some random turns and junctions as we weren’t sure of where to go at all. After a bit of a drive, the nature reserve was staring at us so we pulled in for a nosey. I’m sure I have cycled this area before with my Dad while waiting on my car getting a full service at Glenfarg Garage but it’s in a much better state than the construction site is was on my last visit.

It’s a pretty straightforward set of paths that lead you one way round the Loch or the other. Signs were up apologising that the nature hides had been taken down due to flood damage but the paths themselves were in fantastic condition – highly recommended for an easy cycle or for wheelchair users. You never wander far from the waters edge and I can see me taking the pushbike down there during the summer.

Tripod and D200 in hand, I set about trying to find a decent shot that wouldn’t rely on the bestest damn natural light you have ever seen. The well-made benches were the obvious target but were lacking any depth. We also had a task of making a new banner for this very website to replace the cold snow of winter. Snowdrops were few and far between but we found a nice clump to be the main focus of the new header (which I will upload as soon as Sarah sends me the image…).

As usual when I was at work the sun was shining and the area was beautiful and photographable, but once finally got a day to go out explore the sun was doing a very good job of hiding and the light was far from fantastic. We ended up at the shores of Loch Leven in Kinrosshire. The castle in the middle is where Mary queen of Scots was held prisoner. However the boats don’t go there until summer so we just went around the nature reserve.

It had all the trappings of spring with scatterings of snowdrops and the beginnings of life but little sun or heat and I was made to wear my overly bright RED gloves. Not exactly fashionable but at least my hands were warm. After trying to get a nice shot of the Loch, which unfortunately there was not enough light to get a dramatic shot of and too much to get a slow shutter, we set out to get our spring header shot with cameras and snowdrops. Got a couple which I will send to Ian to upload to blog, and also let him choose weather to put one of him or me on!

Poetic bench on the banks of Loch Leven

After saying hello to several dogs which were not on leads like the sign claimed they should be and playing around with the remote flash, need to get another so can flash 2 flashes from one camera, without using the cameras own flash  (Sounds complex but does work, sure Ian can add a bit of info on remote flashing which doesn’t involve long trench coats from a distance!),  Anyway we headed up to Queensferry to get a photo of the Forth bridges. Again the sky was a bit boring and overcast but managed to make something out of a panoramic. The most annoying thing was a sheer amount of workies there. The rail bridge is in constant repair these days, although the new paint means it doesn’t have to be painted constantly any more. The bridges beauty is disguised by scaffolding and plastic, don’t think I’ve ever seen it any other way. Of course it is actually the suspension road bridge that is falling down due to the mere amount of traffic that crosses it every day as it is the main route in and out of the Capital.

So not the most successful photo day, but at least I got out and about in the daylight before my nightshifts when I won’t really see daylight at all.